Baylor Provost Announces Faculty Opportunity Hiring Program

January 24, 2017
Baylor Sciences Building

Baylor Sciences Building (Matthew Minard/Baylor Marketing and Communications)

Program will provide another pathway to attract top intellectual talent, increase underrepresented faculty in the STEM fields

Media Contact: Lori Fogleman, 254-710-6275
Follow Lori on Twitter at @LoriBaylorU
Follow Baylor Media Communications on Twitter: @BaylorUMedia

WACO, Texas (Jan. 24, 2017) – L. Gregory Jones, executive vice president and provost at Baylor University, has announced a new faculty opportunity hiring program, one of several new initiatives that will deepen and advance the University’s aspirations in Pro Futuris as a pre-eminent Christian research university.

Beginning Feb. 1, the University will begin offering six to eight additional opportunity appointments for tenured or tenure-track positions, which will provide Baylor with another pathway to recruit top intellectual talent, with many of the appointments anticipated to be underrepresented faculty and/or women in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

“Baylor University is distinctively well-positioned to address major challenges and issues of the 21st century in a transdisciplinary way across our 12 schools, especially because of our shared vision and our commitment to being a leading Christian research university,” Jones said. “This new opportunity hiring program will enable us to seek out some of the most gifted and innovative faculty in the world, and also to enhance the ethnic/racial diversity of our faculty and female faculty in STEM fields.

“We will identify people who are already leaders in addressing major issues, as well as people who are emerging as intellectual leaders, in order to enhance the strengths of our faculty and enable us to achieve our aspirational commitments in Pro Futuris,” Jones said.

The faculty appointments will be additional ones beyond those awarded through routine faculty position request processes.

Proposals will be considered beginning Feb. 1 and will continue to be accepted throughout calendar year 2017.

All proposals will be reviewed by a small group of advisors to the EVP/Provost, which will include EVP/ Provost Office staff, one to two deans outside the requesting unit(s) and one to two faculty outside the requesting unit(s), varying on the field and expertise of the proposed candidate. Ultimate approval for a recruitment will be made by the EVP/Provost.

“The EVP/Provost Office intends to learn from this program as we consider longer-term hiring programs and strategies that will enhance Baylor’s bold mission and vision,” Jones said.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 16,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions.